1 . Chinese cultural relic authorities on Thursday revealed some new discoveries from the puzzling Sanxingdui Ruins in Sichuan Province, including a gold mask, a huge bronze mask, bronze statues and ivory carvings.
A complete gold mask 37.2 centimeters wide, 16.5 centimeters high and about 100 grams in weight was unearthed from No.3 Pit. The golden mask shares a similar size and the same facial features as one of the bronze heads unearthed before. "This golden mask might be a part of the face of the bronze head," Ran Hongling, head of the Sanxingdui Institute of Archaeology (考古), told the Global Times. Meanwhile, a large bronze mask, 135 centimeters wide and 74 centimeters high, was dug up from the same pit, which is relatively well preserved and it is the largest bronze mask ever discovered at the site.
Among the newly unearthed bronze statues from No. 4 Pit, one standing figure is being jokingly called the ancient "ancestor" of the popular Japanese superhero "Ultraman" due to the pointed crown (冠) on its head and his eyes that stick out. Another bronze statue has a special hairstyle that reminded people of the crown-shaped hat worn by Zhuge Liang, a Chinese statesman living during the Three Kingdoms period. And still another bronze statue has a unique pose. The figure is kneeling down with his head turned to the right and his hands are on the front left side of his body, but most interestingly, the figure is standing on the balls of both feet with his heels high in the air. The shapes and decorations of these bronze statues make them unique as valuable resources for the research of the ancient Kingdom of Shu, some 3,000 years ago.
Currently, the third and fourth pits have produced 729 and 1,073 relics, including three relics made from unknown materials. Meanwhile, 200 ivory relics have been discovered in the eighth pit.
1. What do we know about the bronze mask?| A．It is the most complete relic ever discovered. |
| B．It has the largest size of its kind unearthed at the site. |
| C．It was dug from the No. 4 Pit of the Sanxingdui Ruins. |
| D．It has the same facial features as a bronze bead previously found. |
| A．The significance of the bronze statues. | B．Similar images of the unearthed status. |
| C．The digging process of the bronze statues. | D．The characteristics of the thee bronze statues. |
| A．Its eyes and crown. | B．Its hairstyle. |
| C．Its unique pose. | D．Its crown-shaped hat. |
| A．An ancient kingdom was newly discovered. |
| B．Mysterious Sanxingdui Ruins reveal more relics. |
| C．Sichuan Province is the birthplace of a new civilization. |
| D．New Sanxingdui pits catch the attention of archaeologists. |
